Tony Abbott is facing a plethora of demands in return for the votes he needs to repeal the carbon and mining taxes as trading begins to secure crossbench support for government policies opposed by Labor and the Greens.

Interviews by Guardian Australia indicate crossbench senators may attach conditions to their support for the carbon and mining tax repeals, budget cuts and the reintroduction of temporary protection visas.

The Palmer United party’s (PUP) position is hard to pin down as Clive Palmer has made contradictory statements on behalf of his party’s powerful Senate voting bloc.

The government may have to retain some spending measures “paid for” out of the mining tax to secure the repeal of that tax, and the Democratic Labor party (DLP) senator John Madigan says he could make his support for spending cuts contingent on MPs and senators forgoing some of their own perks.

The crossbench remains implacably opposed to Abbott’s paid parental leave scheme, which can pass only in a pared-back form with Greens backing, and also to the government’s proposed changes to financial advice laws and the Qantas Sales Act.

Other controversial plans, such as changes to the Racial Discrimination Act, are likely to rely on the as-yet-undeclared position of the PUP.

The result of Saturday’s West Australian Senate election confirmed the Coalition will face eight minor-party senators on the Senate crossbench – the PUP’s Dio Wang, Jacqui Lambie and Glenn Lazarus, the PUP-aligned Motoring Enthusiast Ricky Muir, Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm, Family First’s Bob Day, independent Nick Xenophon and the DLP’s Madigan.

Depending on whether Labor or the Liberals win the final WA Senate spot, the Coalition will need either six or seven of those eight to pass bills opposed by Labor and the Greens, and the votes of either two or three of the crossbench will be needed to block bills opposed by Labor and the Greens.

The assortment of senators thrown together on the crossbench insist they will use their power constructively and the government’s leader in the Senate, Eric Abetz, is now making soothing statements about how the government intends to work with the new Senate, which sits from July.

But during the election Abbott accused Palmer of trying to “buy” Senate seats and Greens leader Christine Milne is predicting a “right-wing circus” rather than a happy centre-right blended family, which she says will prove to be Abbott’s “undoing”.

Here is what we know of the crossbenchers’ views on high-profile issues that will, or may, rely on their support.

Carbon tax repeal

PUP: Will probably vote for repeal. During the WA campaign Palmer appeared to drop the condition that PUP support was contingent on the impossible demand that the repeal be made retrospective, saying his senators had decided “unanimously” to vote for repeal, but he then said his senators had yet to decide whether this condition should apply.

Day: Supports repeal

Leyonhjelm: Supports repeal, but not the cancellation of carbon tax-related income tax cuts legislated to start on 1 July, 2015. The cancellation of the tax cuts is included in the carbon tax repeal package. “Our party supports lower taxation. I will need to be persuaded to back the abolition of this tax cut.”

Madigan: Supports repeal.

Xenophon: Supports repeal, but wants changes to electricity market rules, which he says will do much more to reduce household electricity bills.

Mining tax repeal

(and abolition of linked spending measures, including the income support bonus for welfare recipients, the schoolkids bonus and the low income superannuation co-contribution)

Photograph: Reuters

PUP: Supports repeal, but has said vote would be contingent on retaining the income support bonus for war veterans’ children and orphans. Asked by Guardian Australia on Monday whether this was still a condition, Palmer insisted: “It’s not about income support at all, it’s about orphans, you don’t know what you are talking about. See you later.”

Day: Supports repeal, and the associated spending cuts “in principle” because he is opposed to the “churn of taxing and spending”.

Leyonhjelm: Supports repeal.

Madigan: Will vote for the repeal, but says he wants to keep the low income superannuation contribution and the income support bonus for war veterans’ children and orphans.

Xenophon: Support repeals, but “I would like to try to separate the low income superannuation contribution and the income support bonus for war veterans’ children and keep those. I’m quite worried about both those things.”

Approach to budget spending cuts

PUP: Unclear.

Day: “I will support sensible and meaningful spending cuts. The government spends way too much on itself, size of government needs to be the focus.”

Leyonhjelm: “We have a fiscal problem that has to be brought under control or Australia will go broke like Greece. We need to redirect assistance from relatively well-off people to the genuinely needy.”

Madigan: “Most people acknowledge the budget has problems, but the parliament should lead by example, we could fly economy class, we could reduce our own superannuation, I will be putting those kind of things forward in discussions about budget spending cuts.”

Xenophon: “I’ll approach it on a case-by-case basis.”

Paid parental leave

Photograph: Compassionate Eye Foundation/Thr/Getty Images

PUP: Opposed. “We believe in paid parental leave but we don’t believe in people that are very wealthy just getting a higher rate than the average working woman or stay-at-home mums,’’ Palmer says.

Day: Opposed

Leyonhjelm: Opposed

Madigan: Opposed

Xenophon: Opposed

Temporary protection visas

PUP: Palmer has said that without significant changes for women and children in detention, his party will not back TPVs.

Day: Inclined to support anything that adds to disincentives for asylum seekers to arrive by boat.

Leyonhjelm: “I can see arguments both ways on this – we support an entirely different approach where the government allows migrants in if they pay a fee.”

Madigan: “I am opposed to temporary protection visas.”

Xenophon: “I abstained when this came before the Senate. I could live with TPVs if we increased the overall intake of asylum seekers under the humanitarian program.”

Future of financial advice reforms

Day: “I support the liberation of financial advice and I support these changes. Those seeking advice need to take more responsibility for their own decision-making.”

Leyonhjelm: “I need to take more advice, but I think Labor’s original legislation had the right motivation to protect people.”

Madigan: “I oppose any changes which allow ongoing commissions on financial products … Talk about the age of entitlement. These people [in financial institutions] are allowed to take from people with the least."

Changes to the Racial Discrimination Act

PUP: Unclear. “We will be strategic about determining the right time to reveal our position,” Palmer says.

Day: “I support the changes proposed by the government … we need more freedom of speech.”

Leyonhjelm: “I would repeal section 18C altogether. I support the government’s changes but they don’t go far enough.”

Madigan: Supports the government’s changes because "you cannot tell people what to think" but says the government is doing a poor job of putting its argument.

Xenophon: “I do not support the changes on the table.”

Changes to the Renewable Energy Target

PUP: WA senator-elect Dio Wang issued a strongly worded statement supporting the existing RET, but Palmer contradicted him the next day, saying the party thought the RET should be voluntary, which would render it inoperable.

Day: “I oppose any expenditure on climate change.”

Leyonhjelm: “I would scrap it.”

Madigan: “I’m still doing my research on that.”

Xenophon: “It would depend what was changing. We need more support for baseload renewables.”

Cross-media ownership laws

PUP: Unclear. Palmer says the party will consider changes, but has been highly critical of the concentration of media ownership.

Day: “I support changes to the cross-media laws. In the new media environment we don’t really need those limitations.”

Leyonhjelm: “I can’t see they achieve anything in this day and age and some opposing change seem to be more motivated by their hatred for Rupert Murdoch, which doesn’t seem to be a good basis for making public policy.”

Madigan: “I oppose anything that allows greater concentration in the media.” He says he is concerned media outlets are already outsourcing the pre-editing processes offshore and "newspapers in regional Australia are becoming very generic”.

Xenophon: “We need to look at the impact of any changes on regional news services and content.”

Removing foreign ownership restrictions on Qantas

Photograph: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

PUP: Says Qantas is a “vital part of Australia’s fabric” and the government has a “moral obligation” to ensure it remains in Australian hands.

Day: “I support the removal of foreign ownership restrictions. It gets the government off Qantas’s back.”

Direct Action on carbon emissions

(The government says it can set up its emissions reduction fund without legislation, but will need legislation for other things such as establishing emissions baselines)

PUP: Unclear.

Day: “I oppose all expenditure or expensive regulation on climate change. It’s a waste of money.”

Leyonhjelm: Unclear.

Madigan: “People I talk to are very cynical about Direct Action … I wonder whether the government is fair dinkum about this or whether they are just trying to look like they are trying to do something about global warming which they don’t really believe in.”

Xenophon: “I want to see changes to the system of establishing baselines to ensure it is effective.”